20090617Answer.pdf

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June 17, 2009
Jean Jewell, Commssion Secreta
State of Idao
Idaho Public Utilities Commssion
Statehouse
Boise, ID 83720
Re: Response of A vista Corpration in A VU-E-09-05
Dea Ms. Jewell:
Enclosed for filg ar an original and seven (7) copies of A vista's response regardig
"Formal Complaint of Mr. Herbert Pawlik Against Avista Utilites."
If you have any questions regardig ths filing, please feel free to contact me at (509)
495-4975.
Sincerely,'~~
Manager, Regulatory Policy
State and Federa Regulation
A vista Utities
509-495-4975
linda. gervais (g avistacorp.com
cc: Marlyn Parker - PUC Sta
Mr. Herbert Pawlik
RECEIVED
David Meyer
Vice President, Chief Counsel,
Regulatory and Governental Affairs
A vista Corporation
1411 East Mission Ave.
Spokane, W A 99202
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
david.meyer~avistacorp.com
meg JUN I 7 AHIO: 25
IDAHO PUBLIC
UTILlT1ES COMMISSION
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
HERBERT PAWLIK,
Complainant,
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
CASE NO. A VU-E-09-05
vs.
AVISTA UTILITIES,
Respondent.
RESPONSE OF A VISTA
CORPORATION
A vista Corporation ("Avista" or "Company") hereby submits its response to the Idaho
Public Utilities Commission's ("Commission") Summons dated May 27, 2009 regarding the
"Formal Complaint ofMr. Herbert Pawlik ("the Customer or Pawliks") Against Avista Utilities."
The Company appreciates the opportnity to respond to the complaint filed by the
Customer.
I. Introduction
The Customer, in his letter to the Commission dated Februar 19, 2009, accused the
Company of practicing "unethical and perhaps criminal procedures" related to its rebiling after
Avista discovered that its metering equipment serving them failed to operate correctly for a
period of five months. Mr. Pawliks complaint is based on a number of alleged practices which
A VISTA CORPORA nON RESPONSE IN AVU-E-09-05
Page 1
he sumarzes in a subsequent letter to Mr. Dennis Vermilion, President of Avista Utilities, on
May 3, 2009:
.He asserts that A vista neglected to replace a broken power meter on his property for
five (5) months. Consequently, Avista 'estimated' his power consumption over six
biling cycles, from August 8, 2008 through January 19,2009.
After replacing the faulty meter, Avista allegedly ''under-estimated'' his power
consumption during those six biling cycles by 12,300 kWh, or $1,466.51.
He argues that there was no reasonable explanation for his increase in power
consumption.
He claims that a closer look at the related bils revealed numerous inconsistencies.
(for example, Avista had not distrbuted the ''under-estimated'' charges respectively
over all six estimated biling cycles, but had lumped the overage only into the last
three biling cycles during which higher utility rates were in place; this by and in
itself resulted in an overcharge of$34,45.)
He asserts that A vista subsequently conceded to have made a mistake in calculating
his consumption for those three months and reduced his demand by 2670 kWh and
later offered a $200 credit.
.
.
.
.
II. History of the Dispute
On December 12,2008, a billng representative received a warning regarding the Pawliks
account through the Company's Meter Read Exception Report; the warning indicated the meter
had been estimated for 3 months. When an account comes across the "meter read exception
desk" as a "no read," it is typically due to an access issue.
If the estimated read is for the first month and the meter reader has commented on the
reason for the estimate, the biling representative wil estimate the use according to the usage
history and the time of year. The biling representatives review these accounts on their "meter
read exceptions report" when they show a warng or an error message.
A VIST A CORPORATION RESPONSE IN A VU-E-09-05
Page 2
An internal tracker was created for the electric meter (# 12093810) in question, which
was removed from the Customer's premises and sent to a billng specialist for investigation.
After preliminary troubleshooting, a field visit was made to help determine the problem. It was
also noted. that several customer's meters in the immediate area had stopped sending in reads
during the same timeframe.
The field request for the Pawliks account was completed on January 19, 2009.
Meter #12093810 tested in Spokane Meter Shop at 99.79% accuracy. This is within acceptable
limits of 2% variance.
At the time of the field visit, the field personnel conversed with Herbert Pawlik, and he
was informed by the Company that the meter was stil registering usage; however, the usage had
not been communicated through the normal TW ACS™1 process and he would be receiving
adjusted bilings based on their usage. Mr. Pawlik informed the field personnel he was not
surprised at the increased usage as they keep the furnace running fairly high because his wife
needs their house to be war.
The meter was replaced and data was searched successfully on the Phase A of feeder
BLU321 from the Blue Creek Substation. Subsequently, several other customers in the area also
had their meters changed out.
While researching the root cause of the missed reads with respect to multiple meters in
the immediate area, it was discovered that a flawed query had not identified these paricular
meters as "No Reads." As a result, additional documentation and rigor has been built into
i TW ACS ™ - Two-Way Automated Communication System - The AMR system A vista installed in lower electrc
meter density areas of our service territory. The system uses power-line-carer technology to communicate with the
meter.
AVISTA CORPORATION RESPONSE IN A VU-E-09-05
Page 3
routines, including daily, weekly, and monthly tasks. This is an evolving process, which is
reviewed periodically and revised as needed.
Attached as Exhibit B, is the written correspondence to the Pawliks from the Company
providing an explanation of the back biling. It was decided that it would be beneficial to the
customer to use the actual reading taken on Februar 10,2009 after the meter change, and base
the adjustment usage on this reading date using the degree days during a warmer biling period,
and to recalculate the bils for November, December and Januar. This amounted to a savings to
the customer of$213.74.
011 February 19, 2009 the Customer's Herbert Pawlik and Rachel Jennings fied an
informal complaint with the Commission.
The Commission Staff investigated the complaint and determined that A vista had
complied with the Commission's UCRR (Rule 204.02) regarding the rebiling of the Pawliks per
their Decision Memorandum dated May 21, 2009. The Pawliks were not satisfied with the
outcome of their informal complaint and consequently they requested that their complaint be
handled as a formal complaint.
III. Efforts to Resolve
In efforts to resolve this complaint, the Company continued to try to work with the
Customer, only to be told that they would only communicate though written correspondence;
this made resolution paricularly difficult when dealing with multiple issues. Nevertheless, the
Company adjusted the Pawliks bil based on warmer temperatures, instead of using colder
temperatues, which resulted in a $213.74 reduction to their bil and also provided an additional
$200.00 for a total credit of $413.74. The Company tested the new Meter (#12151537), and
A VIST A CORPORATION RESPONSE IN A VU-E-09-05
Page 4
those results showed it to be 99.96% accurate. Also, Avista offered to stretch out a payment
arrangement in the amount of the current bil plus $115 a month for 12 months instead of the
allowed 5 months.
iv. Proposed Outcome
The Company has provided the Pawliks an option to pay their remaining account balance
of $676.72 (as of June 16.2009), over a 12 month period2 and wil honor that arrangement. Also,
A vista would propose to send an Energy Efficiency Engineer to provide an on-site
weatherization audit on the Pawliks home at their convenience, to do an analysis 011 their home
and equipment and to offer any suggestions and/or rebates the Company has available through its
demand side management programs. In conclusion, the Company appreciates the opportnity to
respond to this complaint and wil continue to work with the Pawliks to resolve this issue.
The Company respectfully requests that the Commission deem Avista's efforts to resolve
this dispute to be sufficient and otherwise dismiss this complaint.
Respectfully submitted this 17 day of June 2009.
AVISTA CORPORATION
.-
2 The Commission's Utility Customer Relations Rules "UCRR" "Rule 204.04" require the Company allow the
customer the same lengt of time to repay a rebiled amount as the length of time for which the under biling had
accrued. In ths case, that should have been five months.
AVISTA CORPORATION RESPONSE IN A VU-E-09-05
Page 5
RECErVED
2Dt1 JUN '7 AM 10: 27
IDAHO P If;UTILITIES COISSION
Exhibit A
06/16/2009 10: 18 7981439 AVISTA UTILIES PAGE 04/04
January 21 i 2009
Rachel S Jennings
S 10276 Caribou Ridge Rd
Harríson, ID 83833
Re: Account Number 330078385
Dear Mrs. Jennings:
For the last 3 months we under estimated the electric meter at S 10276 Caribou Ridge
Rd. Unfortunately, the billngs for service from October 9, 2008 through January 12,
2009 were incorrect.
We changed the meter on January 19, 2009 the removal read was 1:-85839. The billng
has been corrected. The Twacs meter was not sending the kilowatt hour readings
electronically, thus the electric use had been estimated. The corrected bil showing the
amounts cancelled and re-billed is enclosed.
We are sorry for any inconvenience or budget difficulties this may have caused.
Avista Customer Service Representatives are available to assist you Monday through
Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacìfic Time at [phone].
Or you can visit us at our Web site: ww.avistautilties.comif you have questions or if a
payment plan is needed.
Sincerely,
Mary
Your Avista Customer Service Team
Enclosure
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RightFax 6/15/2009 4: 59: 26 PM PAGE 5/026 Fax Server
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February 16, 2009
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Rachel and Herbert Pawlik
10276 South Caiibou Ridge Rd.
Harrison, ID. 83833
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ACCT: 330078385
Dear Mr. or Mrs. Pawlik
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The meter at the above address stopped transmitting a reading to our electronic
equipment 9/10/08. At that time your meter was estiated, and was estimated with
the 10/9/08 reading, the 1117108 reading, 12/10/08 reading, and the 1112109 read.
The billng you received for these months did indicate the reading was estimated.
A repair order was generated 12130108 to have your meter checked. The
meter was checked 1/19/09, and found to have stopped. The meter was replaced
1/19109.
A vista back biled you for usage from November 7th reading, December ioth,
Januar 12th. This usage is based on your past usage history with Avista, the number
of days in the biling period, and Degree Days. ( measurement of the outside temperature,
the higher the degree days the lower the temperature.)
A vista does have an actual reading for your 2/1 0/09 meter reading. I have
spoken to, our biling department and had them base your previous estimates on the
actual usage on the meter from 1119/09 when we put in the new meter to the read date
of 2/10/09. Avista feels you should have biled 1300 kwh less for the 1112/09 reading,
840 kwh from the 12110/08 reading, and 530 kwh from the 1117/08 reading. This is
a total savings of 2670 Kw based on your actual reading from 2110109. This converts
to approx $ i 80.00 savings for you.
You wil be receiving an adjusted biling in a few days.
Avista realizes it may be diffcult to pay this. We are more than wiling to
make payment arrangements with you. Please call our offce at 800 227 9187, and
we can spread your payments over the next 4 months.
A vista does not charge interest on any back billng.
Thank you,
Janet Hadley
Team Leader
A vista Utilities
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